This invention relates to arrangements for providing lateral head protection for a vehicle occupant.
As is known, the protection of vehicle occupants during lateral collision accidents presents difficulty because there is no room in the lateral direction for protective devices designed to absorb energy by collapsing over a substantial distance. In this respect, "air bags" perform well, since they occupy very little space during normal operation, leaving almost the whole volume of the passenger compartment available for the occupants, whereas in an accident they expand into the passenger compartment upon activation of a gas supply to form a cushion. Accordingly, German Offenlegungsschrift No. 15 55 142 taught at an early date how vehicle occupants might be protected from dangerous parts such as door posts, roof frames etc., during an accident by providing spatially limited air-bag elements lining the walls of the vehicle interior in the form of a continuous padding. German Offenlegungsschrift No. 26 28 815 describes a safety device having an air bag serving as a head-restraining element which is connected for equal and simultaneous forward displacement with a restraining system including a safety belt harness for the occupant's upper body. Thus, this disclosure assumes a frontal crash with forward displacement of the harness so that the air bag positioned laterally adjacent to the occupant's head remains next to the occupant's head throughout impact resulting from the accident.
The prior art also discloses many types of collision sensors to be mounted on the outside wall of a vehicle for activation of the air bag. Such disclosures are included, for example, in German Offenlegungsschrifts Nos. 22 12 190 and 37 16 168 as well as European Patent No. 0 305 655 A2.
Many modern safety belt systems have vertically adjustable articulation arrangements located in the region of the B- or C-column of the motor vehicle, providing an upper loop for the shoulder harness. The vertical adjustment provides an adjustment to position the safety belt according to the location of the seated occupant of the vehicle.